Best Laid Plans
Best Laid Plans Episode Number: Season 4, Episode 17 Directed By: Ron Underwood Air Date: March 29, 2015 Previous Episode: Poor Unfortunate Soul Next Episode Heart of Gold "Best Laid Plans" is the seventeenth episode of Season 4 of the American fairytale/drama series Once Upon a Time, which aired on March 29, 2015. In this episode, David Nolan and Mary Margaret tell Emma Swan the secret they have been keeping from her; and Regina is found out by Mr. Gold, Maleficent, and Cruella, while flashbacks show Snow White and Prince Charming's past with The Apprentice. Plot 'Opening Sequence' A unicorn is shown galloping in the forest. 'In the Character's Past' In the Enchanted Forest, before the first curse, Snow White and Prince Charming come across a unicorn and touch its horn to see what the future holds for their unborn child. Charming sees a happy baby Emma, but Snow sees a vision of Emma ripping out Snow's heart and crushing it to dust. Later on, the couple run into a peddler, who tells them that Maleficent has transformed into a dragon and has laid an egg. The merchant then advises the couple to follow a path that leads them to The Apprentice's cottage. The Apprentice tells the Charmings that their child is a blank slate, and either one of their premonitions could come true, but adds that it is possible to banish the darkness from a child, and in order to do that they would have to find another blank slate to contain the darkness. Snow begins to believe that Maleficent's egg is the ideal vessel to take on the darkness, as it will only grow into a heartless monster anyway. The Charmings later return to the cave where Maleficent, as a dragon, is guarding her egg. As they attempt to take the egg, Maleficent awakens and pleads with Snow, but the Charmings take the egg anyway (although Snow vows to return it unharmed), and bring it to The Apprentice, who then transfers the darkness from their unborn child with a powerful, irreversible curse. Unfortunately, The Apprentice left out one detail; the creature inside the egg will become the darkest force ever seen. He claims that he has no choice but to open a portal and banish it to where it can do no harm. The egg begins to hatch to reveal a harmless human baby inside, and the Charmings beg The Apprentice to stop the spell to no avail. Cruella and Ursula arrive, furious and intent on rescuing the baby, and are sucked into the portal along with the egg. The Apprentice explains that all three have been sent to a realm where they will not hurt anyone again. Some time later, the Charmings receive a unicorn-themed mobile for the baby's room. Snow does not want the reminder of what they had done hanging over their child, but Charming believes it is a reminder that they can become the best possible people that they can be, and that the mobile should stay. The couple then vow to never succumb to the darkness again, and to always do the right thing, for the sake of their daughter. 'Storybrooke' August is in a deep sleep at the Fairies' nunnery, having been changed by magic too many times, and Regina is left with no choice but to take a photo of the illustration of the door that was torn from the book. She shows it to Gold, Maleficent, and Cruella, who notice a glare on the image, leading Gold to conclude the page is protected by magic and that The Author is actually hidden inside the page. Maleficent then casts a sleeping spell all over Storybrooke so Gold and the Queens can steal the page; in exchange for her help, she tells Gold to find out what happened to her child after Mary Margaret and David "got rid of it." Gold and the Queens go to steal the page, only to discover it missing. Henry, who is immune to the curse because a person can only be put under the sleeping spell once, has escaped with the page. He calls Mary Margaret and David, who are also immune to the curse, and tells them he is in the Sorcerer's mansion. David believes that the only way they can keep Emma from going dark is to destroy the page, but that would mean keeping The Author trapped inside the page forever. As Henry waits for his grandparents, he notices a light that begins to shine from the illustration of the door. It shines a light on a desk drawer that Henry opens to reveal a key; as he takes it out, Regina and the Queens arrive. Regina demands that he hand over the page and he complies, unknowingly giving them a fake page forged by Emma. Mary Margaret and David then arrive; at their request, Henry gives them the key and leaves. They plan to toss the page into the fireplace, but Mary Margaret stops David, saying that they cannot destroy everyone's chance of a happy ending, and that heroes should do what is right. The couple decides it is time to tell Emma the truth. Gold visits a sleeping Belle at the pawn shop and explains that the reason he is searching for The Author and wants to change the destiny of the villains is so the world can be safe and free of all evil. He mysteriously claims that his magic has racked up so much debt, that it is about to catch up to him and punish him for what he has done (as he talks to her, he is seen rubbing his chest where his heart is). He vows to come back to her, then steps outside to meet up with Regina, Cruella and Maleficent. He has noticed the forgery and is onto Regina's deception, so Maleficent places her under the sleeping curse. Since their deal has fallen through, Gold decides not tell Maleficent about what happened to her child, saying that the pain would become worse if she knew the truth, but she begs him to tell her and he complies, as he shows Maleficent a vision that 30 years earlier a man had adopted a baby girl, whom he named Lilith, the name of Emma's friend from a foster home. Later, Mary Margaret finally comes clean to Emma; Emma is disappointed and leaves angrily. Hook chases after Emma to tell her August has awoken, and they return to see August ask about the key, which could help Emma learn more about her past. August reveals that there was more than just one author, and the person who was trapped inside the book was the most current Author, who eventually began manipulating the stories for his own twisted enjoyment. After he went too far and manipulated The Apprentice so that he would banish Maleficent's child for him, the Sorcerer and The Apprentice condemned him to life in the book. Despite the warning, Emma is determined to meet The Author. As Emma opens the door with the key, a person, revealed to be the peddler who encountered Emma's parents back in the Enchanted Forest, emerges and escapes before he can answer Emma's questions. She chases him out into the street, where he mysteriously disappears. Cast Starring *Ginnifer Goodwin as Snow White/Mary Margaret Blanchard *Jennifer Morrison as Emma Swan *Lana Parrilla as The Evil Queen/Regina Mills *Josh Dallas as Prince Charming/David Nolan/Prince James *Emilie de Ravin as Belle *Colin O'Donoghue as Hook *Jared S. Gilmore as Henry Mills *Michael Socha as Will Scarlet *Robert Carlyle as Rumplestiltskin/Mr. Gold Guest Starring *Kristin Bauer van Straten as Maleficent *Victoria Smurfit as Cruella De Vil *Merrin Dungey as Ursula *Eion Bailey as Pinocchio/August Booth *Patrick Fischler as The Author/Isaac Heller *Keegan Connor Tracy as The Blue Fairy/Mother Superior *Timothy Webber as The Apprentice *Gabe Khouth as Sneezy/Tom Clark *Abby Ross as Young Emma Swan Trivia Production Notes= *The title card features a running unicorn. *The title of this episode was announced by Adam Horowitz via his Twitter account on January 14, 2015. *The episode title is an egg-based pun. *The overhead view of the Infinite Forest is stock footage from "True North", but with a different color hue. *This episode is inconsistent in its placement of Mary Margaret's apartment: When Hook sees the sleeping spell approach, the pawn shop is visible through the window, on the other side of the street. However, after leaving the apartment, David and Mary Margaret are shown to be walking away from the white picket fence next to the post office and across Main Street in the direction of Storybrooke Country Bread. Additionally, Mr. Gold, Cruella, Maleficent and Regina are also shown leaving the apartment from the picket fence. This fence is located at the other end of Main Street from the pawn shop, a couple blocks down from Granny's Diner. *According to Jane Espenson, The Author was only controlling The Apprentice. Snow White and Prince Charming were still responsible for their own actions. *In the episode promo, Maleficent uses her staff to throw a fireball at Snow White and Prince Charming. In the actual episode, it is a purple blast of magic. |-|Goofs= *After Mr. Gold and his team leave the Blanchard Loft, a direction sign pointing to "Steveston General Store - second hand goods" can be seen on a building. This is a real business in Steveston Village, the town which doubles as Storybrooke on the show. |-|Other Notes= FILMING LOCATIONS *The interior scenes in the convent were filmed at the Cecil Green Park House in Vancouver and the OverLynn Mansion in Burnaby Heights. Both are Arts & Crafts-styled mansions and were built in 1912 and 1909 respectively.